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Welcome to our daily drive time devotions to the book of Romans. Romans chapter
5, our last day in our look at this great chapter. Yesterday we reminded
ourselves that the better you understand your salvation, the more hope, the more
trust, the more confidence you have in your relationship with God.

I always like to liken it to driving a car. You get in a car and you drive it.
You don't have to understand how the internal combustion engine works in order
to drive a car.

You just drive it. But if something starts going wrong with the car, you start
hearing this weird sound, if you know a little bit more about the car, you can
drive with more confidence. You can make a decision with more confidence about
what to do in that case.

We all have problems. We all have doubts in our lives. We all hear those little
pings of doubt.

The better you understand your salvation, the more you're going to be able to
walk with confidence through life. And the less someone's going to be able to
give you some kind of false teaching that heads you the wrong direction. Oh,
here's how the engine of the car should be fixed.

And that's the exact wrong thing to do. And the better you're going to be able
to live out the kind of life that gives glory to God. Yesterday we talked about
Adam's sin.

And today we're going to focus some on what Jesus did for us. There's a couple
of important questions that are covered in Romans chapter 5 verses 15 to 21
about our salvation. Understanding the answer to these questions gives you
greater confidence in your salvation and helps you to give other people greater
confidence in what salvation really is all about.

When Adam sinned, we talked about yesterday the fact that that sin universally
condemned everyone. And so a question a lot of people have is, well, when Jesus
died and was resurrected, did that universally save everyone? In other words, am
I automatically saved or is my choice somehow involved?

Well, listen to Romans chapter 5 verses 15 to 17. But the gift, the gift of our
salvation, is not like the trespass, sin. For if the many died by the trespass
of the one man, talking about Adam, how much more did God's grace and the gift
that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many?

Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin. The judgment
followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses
and brought justification. For if by the trespass of the one man death reigned
through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant
provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the
one man, Jesus Christ?

Are we all saved by Jesus whether we believe or not, just like all sinned in
Adam, whether we were there or not? Adam's sin affected us all, whether we
choose it or not. Is the cross the same?

Are we all saved by what Jesus did? This is called universalism, whether we
believe it or not? Well, the answer, you heard it in those verses, is the gift
is different from the trespass.

Says it a couple of times. The gift is different from the sin. The gift is
greater because it's poured out on all.

It's a wonderful gift, but also the verses tell us that the gift is received.
There's a difference between the punishment that comes because of sin and the
gift that is offered by grace. Our sinful nature is a just punishment for Adam's
disobedience.

God told Adam that if he ate from that tree, it would bring death, not only on
him, but also all mankind. And it did. Now, you don't decide on whether a just
punishment happens.

It just comes, whether you want it to or not. Grace is different, these verses
say. Grace is a gift, not a punishment.

A gift has to be received. Here's the difference. If you break the law and
you're found guilty, the judge doesn't ask you, "Now, do you want to receive
punishment for this or not?

" It's your choice. No, you were found guilty. You have no choice.

You suffer punishment for what you've done. But what Jesus did is offered to us
as a gift. When you get a gift for your birthday or Christmas, you have a choice
about whether you're open or not.

The gift is received. Sin is universal. We all sin.

Grace is full. It's offered to all. There's no one to whom God's grace is not
offered.

There's no one to whom the gift is not held out and offered. But salvation is
individual. It must be received.

So how do I experience God's grace? How can I be sure that I have received the
gift of God's grace? Well, it's not based just on what you feel.

In fact, some people feel that they've received the gift who have not, and
others feel at times that they've not received the gift who have. Verses 18 to
21 in this chapter tell you and I that we can be sure with mathematical
precision. They lay out the truth.

How can you be sure? Trust alone in what Jesus did for you. Let me read through
these verses slowly and comment along the way.

Verse 18, "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for
all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that
brings life for all men. " You notice it's not based on what you feel or even
what you do. It's based on what Jesus Christ did for you.

Trust in Jesus' one act of righteousness is what brings justification. Verse 19,
"For just as through the disobedience of the one man," it's talking about Adam
here, "the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man,
Jesus, the many will be made righteous. " These verses remind us that many
people live today, right now, separated from God, apart from God, who are
already justified, already made righteous by what Jesus has done.

They've just not chosen to receive the gift, and God won't force them to. It is
a gift. God is a gentleman.

He does not force His gift upon us. One of God's greatest compliments to us as
human beings is that He doesn't force us to choose Him. He allows us to choose
whether we'll have a relationship with Him or not.

C. S. Lewis said that in the end, either we will say to God, "Thy will be done,"
or God will say to us, "Thy will be done.

" Either we'll say to God, "Thy will be done," and we'll trust Him and be with
Him in all of eternity, or God will say to us, if we choose not to want a
relationship with Him, "Thy will be done," and He'll allow us to have that
result of that choice, separation from God, for all of eternity. There is this
gift that God has given through Jesus Christ, and it's offered to all. Verse 20
says that the law was added so that the trespass might increase, but where sin
increased, grace increased all the more.

Again, as we've looked at before, the law is not the solution to our sin. It's
the clear evidence of our sin nature. It's not the solution.

There was one law in the Garden of Eden. God said to Adam and Eve, "Don't eat
the fruit of that tree. " They disobeyed that one law.

There were many laws in the commands given by Moses to the people, and we broke
them. God says the law helps us to see our trespass, that when God says to do
something, we do the opposite. But where sin increased, grace increased all the
more.

God gave an answer for our sin. In verse 21, "So that just as sin reigned in
death, so also grace might reign through righteousness, to bring eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. " I love that phrase, "Grace might reign.

" That's where God's plan is. He doesn't want sin to reign. He doesn't want the
law to reign.

He doesn't want our good works to reign. He wants his grace to reign. Grace is
king.

Grace gets the last word, God's grace. Do you see why grace has to come through
the one? There was one trespass, one act of disobedience.

One universal act resulting in judgment requires one universal act resulting in
grace, and the reign of sin required a new king for the reign of grace, and
Jesus is that king. Sometimes we have a hard time seeing this. It's difficult
for us.

We have twin values of individualism and freedom, and that leads to an emphasis
on the many, what everybody chooses. For grace to reign, we have to break that
down. We have to look instead to the importance of the one, Jesus Christ, and
what he did for us all.

It's important to note that grace is not some addition to God's plan. It was
there from the beginning. He dealt with Adam and Eve by grace, with the
patriarchs, the early leaders of the Jewish people by grace, with Israel by
grace.

He deals with us by grace. In many ways, these verses that we've just looked at
are the culmination of God's great symphony. I encourage you to get a Bible and
read these verses.

They need to be looked at. In any great symphony, there is both suspense,
tension, and then resolution in the music. A dissonant chord is finally resolved
by a beautiful chord.

Look at the incredible resolution in God's plan. When trespass is resolved by
one righteous act. Condemnation for all is resolved by life for all.

The disobedience of one, Adam, is resolved by the obedience of one, Jesus. Many
were made sinners is resolved by many made righteous. And then these verses end
by saying and reminding us that sin reigns is resolved by the truth that grace
reigns.

As we pray together, take some time right now to consider the awesome nature of
what Jesus did for you on the cross. Think through the story of his crucifixion
once again. Think about how his action of love changed history, changed world
history, changed the history of nations.

But think about how his love has changed and will change the history in your
life. And as you think about that, say to God, "God, let grace reign in my life
this week. " In fact, you might make that very practical, very personal by
saying to God, "God, I'm going to let your grace be in charge in this area this
week.

" You might be thinking of some person. You might be thinking of some
circumstance. You might be thinking of some temptation.

You might be thinking of some opportunity. "God, I'm going to let your grace be
in charge. Reign.

Be king. Right here. Right now.

In Jesus' name. Amen. " Well, join us next week.

We're going to be looking at Romans chapter 6.